In traditional display units utilizing non-emissive display elements (such as LCDs, electrochromic displays and electrophoretic displays), lamps or luminaires are required to provide light emission. Typically, the lamps are fluorescent, incandescent, or discharge lamps. In existing display designs, the lamps which provide backlighting are mounted inside of a display cabinet or housing. In addition to the lamps, the display cabinet also typically contains the display element, a diffuser, and reflectors or lightpipes for redirecting light toward the diffuser and the display element. In order to mount the display unit in a rack or panel for use, the display cabinet is typically inserted into an opening in the rack or panel. Once inserted into the opening of the rack or panel the display unit receives power and control/data signals, typically via a rear connector, needed to display information to the users of the display unit.
In these existing configurations, the display unit must be disassembled when an internal lamp needs to be replaced. Disassembly of the display unit typically requires that the components of the display unit be removed from the display cabinet and that the display cabinet be removed from the opening in the rack or panel. Since lamps have very short life expectancies as compared to other components, this requires frequent disassembly and repair of the display unit. These frequent repair operations significantly reduce the mean time between failure (MTBF) of the display unit, and thus increase the cost of ownership of the display unit. Also, these frequent repair operations increase the risk of introducing new and unrelated failures or damage to the display unit during disassembly or assembly.